> It is not my interest as to how much profit a tour operator makes at the =
end
> of the day, I have seen too much damage done to the targeted bird.
> They are mostly there to make a quick buck.
And if he can't make a profit as a tour operator to feed his family I guess=
he should just
return to logging or the pet trade to accomplish this. What happened to tr=
ying to promote
preserving the forests by encouraging eco-tourism ? In my eyes what damage=
, if any, is
caused by recordings pales in comparison to other threats.
> Why do you think playback is banned in National parks and around endanger=
ed
> species?
Not really sure, and didn't know it was. Been with a few professors who ha=
ve used
recordings in National Parks. Hunting and feeding of wildlife are also ban=
ned but perfectly
acceptable outside of the parks.=20
> It was maybe acceptable a few years ago but now there are armies of peopl=
e
> equipped with iPods alike playing the dam songs everywhere.
I have been taking photographs of birds for the last few years and use call=
s from time to
time to get them close enough. In all the years of doing this I have never=
ever seen
anyone else using recordings... ever.
> I have seen birds stressed out because of this and in David Sibley's own
> words, there are Bird Watchers and Birders, Bird Watchers care less of th=
e
> environment, Birders are Ornithologists, two entirely different people.
I have spoken with a couple nationally known Ornithologists and some top na=
turalists.=20
Not one has told me it is harmful to the bird. (On the other hand I have sp=
oken with
several avid bird watchers who claim it is very harmful) One of the Ornith=
ologist is a bird
Psychologist who studies the effect of recordings on birds and I asked him =
about the harm
of recordings after one of his lectures I attended. He told me not to worr=
y as it has very
little impact, if any. He did say he would advise exercising a little more=
restraint around a
rare sighting as the bird could be subjected to repeated attempts which mig=
ht cause the
bird to leave the vicinity.
>
> I am a conservation chair for the local Audubon society here in Washingto=
n,
> 50% could not give a dam as long as they have their bird on their life
> list...
If this is true then one could assume it is the same for most other Audubon=
groups. I
wonder how the Audubon and other groups could manage on 50% less funds if i=
t were not
for this group of people that you seem to hold in disdain ?
As with anything there will be different standards applied by different peo=
ple as to what is
acceptable and what crosses the line. As a group one must tolerate some be=
havior that
one might feel is unacceptable or they risk losing what they may find accep=
table.
I have noticed that most of the birders that object to using calls have nev=
er used them.=20
Objections I hear are that it causes the bird to quit feeding to run off th=
e intruder. I have
had several enjoyable hours of being able to watch birds forage and catch i=
nsects that
responded to my recordings.
Another objection is they will abandon their young to force an intruder out=
causing the
young to miss crucial feeding. Again I have observed birds that have respo=
nded to my
calls gather a beak full of insects and leave for a few minutes before retu=
rning. I only can
assume since they did not eat the insects they were probably being taken to=
a nest or
mate.
I have also observed that birds learn to ignore the recordings after a few =
repeated
attempts. I have noticed that using a recording on a particular bird on co=
nsectuive
weekends results in fewer chances to photograph him. The first time result=
s in the most
productive time of as much as a half-hour maybe. The following weekend I n=
oticed a
decline and by the third weekend the bird may make a quick showing of a min=
ute at most
if I am lucky. I would assume it would be the rare bird that would be forc=
ed from an
established territory by an unseen adversary.
I would appreciate anyone that can point me to some studies or scientific p=
apers that have
been written on the harm of using recordings on wildlife and the effects it=
might have on
their behavior. I am always interested in learning more on this subject.
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